The process of investigating a possible cure for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in vitro and in vivo may take a long time. For this reason, several in silico studies were performed in order to produce preliminary results that could lead to treatment. Extract of Juniperus procera Hochst is used as a traditional medicine for recovery from flu in Saudi Arabia. In the present study, more than 51 phytochemicals of J. procera were docked against the main protease of COVID-19. Rutin gave the highest interaction score among all the phytochemicals and the commercially available antiviral drugs. Lopinavir showed the second highest binding score. Rutin and lopinavir were further investigated using homology models of COVID-19. Rutin showed a better inhibition score in 9 of the 11 of homology models compared with lopinavir. Analysis of ligand-protein interaction contacts revealed that 3 residues (Glu166, Gly143, and Thr45) of the main protease formed hydrogen bonds with rutin. This simulation study suggests that rutin could be a possible effective inhibitor of several COVID-19 protein targets, including the main protease. Rutin, already available for commercial use, was evaluated for its ability as a possible drug. To our knowledge, this is the first study that suggests rutin having a possible strong inhibitory role against several protein targets of COVID-19.
Understanding salt tolerance mechanisms in halophytes is critical for improving the world’s agriculture under climate change scenarios. Herein, the physiological and metabolic responses of Suaeda monoica, Suaeda vermiculata, and Suaeda schimperi against abiotic stress in their natural saline environment on the east coast of the Red Sea were investigated. The tested species are exposed to different levels of salinity along with elemental disorders, including deficiency in essential nutrients (N&P in particular) and/or elevated levels of potentially toxic elements. The tested species employed common and species-specific tolerance mechanisms that are driven by the level of salinity and the genetic constitution of Suaeda species. These mechanisms include: (i) utilization of inorganic elements as cheap osmotica (Na+ in particular), (ii) lowering C/N ratio (S. monoica and S. schimperi) that benefits growth priority, (iii) efficient utilization of low soil N (S. vermiculata) that ensures survival priority, (v) biosynthesis of betacyanin (S. schimperi and S. vermiculata) and (vi) downregulation of overall metabolism (S. vermiculata) to avoid oxidative stress. Based on their cellular metal accumulation, S. monoica is an efficient phytoextractor of Cr, Co, Cu, Ni, and Zn, whereas S. vermiculata is a hyper-accumulator of Hg and Pb. S. schimperi is an effective phytoextractor of Fe, Hg, and Cr. These results highlight the significance of Suaeda species as a promising model halophyte and as phytoremediators of their hostile environments.
Several anticancer drugs have been developed from natural products such as plants. Successful experiments in inhibiting the growth of human cancer cell lines using Saudi plants were published over the last three decades. Up to date, there is no Saudi anticancer plants database as a comprehensive source for the interesting data generated from these experiments. Therefore, there was a need for creating a database to collect, organize, search and retrieve such data. As a result, the current paper describes the generation of the Saudi anti-human cancer plants database (SACPD). The database contains most of the reported information about the naturally growing Saudi anticancer plants. SACPD comprises the scientific and local names of 91 plant species that grow naturally in Saudi Arabia. These species belong to 38 different taxonomic families. In Addition, 18 species that represent16 family of medicinal plants and are intensively sold in the local markets in Saudi Arabia were added to the database. The website provides interesting details, including plant part containing the anticancer bioactive compounds, plants locations and cancer/cell type against which they exhibit their anticancer activity. Our survey revealed that breast, liver and leukemia were the most studied cancer cell lines in Saudi Arabia with percentages of 27%, 19% and 15%, respectively. The current SACPD represents a nucleus around which more development efforts can expand to accommodate all future submissions about new Saudi plant species with anticancer activities. SACPD will provide an excellent starting point for researchers and pharmaceutical companies who are interested in developing new anticancer drugs. SACPD is available online at https://teeqrani1.wixsite.com/sapd
Cancer is one of the most distributed diseases in the world, which has been associated with a high number of mortalities compared to other diseases. Compared to traditional cancer treatment methods such as chemotherapy and radiotherapy, anti-cancer medicinal plants are mor safer due to their minimum side effects. The Juniperus procera plant is one of medicinal plants used in traditional Saudi medicine, and its extract is used to treat many diseases including cancer. In this study, we investigated the anticancer impacts of J. procera extracts and their potential anticancer activities on breast, ovarian and liver cancers with the focus on the first type. Phytochemical analysis revealed that the fruit extract had higher amount of total phenolics while the leaf extract was richer in flavonoids. The fruit extract showed more antioxidant and cytotoxicity activities against breast, ovarian, and liver cancers. MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231, breast cancer cell lines were further investigated using the fruit extract. Both cell lines were arrested in S phase and G1 phase, respectively. Nuclear fragmentations and apoptosis were triggered in both cell lines. ROS was increased and the cell migration was inhibited. PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway was down regulated. Aromatase gene expression was decreased in MCF-7 and increased in MDA-MB-231. Both extracts were selective toward cancer cells rather than the normal cells (SI > 2). Fruit and leaf extracts have significant antitumor activities, and such activity was more pronounced in the fruit extract than leaf extract. This study highlights the importance of J. procera leaf and fruit as an anti-cancer.
Global warming is a problematic for many plants and understanding how the plants cope with temperature stress is an important objective. In this study, two experiments were conducted; the first one explored the effect of different temperatures on Calotropis procera seed germination, and the second disclosed the physiological and ultrastructural aspects of plant seedling. A temperature rise from 25°C to 30°C increased seed germination enormously, whereas seed incubation at 35°C significantly decreased its germination. The treatment of 40°C drastically inhibited seed germination. During the experimental periods, the seeds did not germinate at all at 45°C. Seed incubation at 30°C for 5 days notably enhanced seedling growth. This effect was accompanied by accelerated reserve mobilization and enzymes activity. A mild increase in lipid peroxidation (30% increase) and electrolyte leakage (45% increase) was also observed in response to these temperatures. Additionally, the plasma membrane moved away from the cell wall and became thicker in response to this temperature. Seeds exposure to 35°C for 5 days significantly reduced seedling growth. This adverse effect was accompanied with an increase in lipid peroxidation and electrolyte leakage by 100 and 170%, respectively over the values of 25°C treatment. Furthermore, the plasma membrane was damaged and double stranded with the 35°C application. Cytoplasmic vesiculation appeared in response to 30°C and 35°C treatments. Except for total soluble sugars which was decreased, all other biochemical changes in response to 35°C were comparable with those observed at 30°C treatment.
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